Endless conveyer press for flattening bags



June 29, 1954 J. J. sHlELDs ENDLESS CONVEYER PRESS FOR FLATTENING BAGS Filed March 16, 1950 IN V EN TOR.

Patentedv June 29, 1954 ENDLESS- CONVEYER PRESSFOR/4 ELATT-ENING. BAGS v James J. Shields Denver, Gola.y

Application Marchl, 1950, Serial No. 150,050.,n

1 Claim.- (Cl. 100e-e151) This invention relates toabagnattening machine. Large bags such as usedu for sugar, salt, flourycement, etc. are exceedingly unwieldy: whenI first' lleddueto their roundscontour. Inorder to'pile, store and handle .thef bags, it hasbeen found necessary-to 4flatten them- :sofzthatftheyrwill lieA -at` upon each other without rolling...

The principali object: of. this-.invention is to providea simple and highly efficient machine through which bags of variouscommoditiesy may be passed and-whichwillactto flattent-he'bags to provide two at'sides'thereon-,so as'to1facilitate piling and stacking.-

Another object of the invention is to provide a machine of this character, which will accommodate bags of various sizes without requiring change or adjustment and which will not damage the bags during the nattening process.

A further object is to so construct the device that the amount of pressure placed upon the bags may be regulated to accomplish a maximum flattening action.

Other objects and advantages reside in the detail construction of the invention, which is designed for simplicity, economy, and eflciency. These will become more apparent from the following description.

n the following detailed description of the invention, reference is had to the accompanying drawing which forms a part hereof.

drawing and throughout the description.

In the drawing:

Fig. l is a side view of the improved bag flattening machine as it would appear in use.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof; and

Fig. 3 is a detail view illustrating a 'type of roller employed on the improved bag flattening machine.

The improved bag flattening machine is supported from two side frames IG and Il carried on suitable legs I2 and joined by means of cross members I3.

The side frames Il] support a horizontal, xed conveyor frame lli extending between the cross members I3 thereon. The fixed conveyor frame lll is inclined downwardly at its receiving eXtremity, as shown at l5, and acts to support a plurality of parallel, uniformly-spaced, roller shafts I6.

A grooved roller (il is mounted on each of the roller shafts it and a plurality of elastic, endless belts I8 extend between the grooves of the adjacent rollers il in staggered relation as shown in Fig. 2. One of the roller shafts, herein designated,l

Like numerals refer to like parts in all views of the` asA the drive shaft lil, isxedtoits roller Il and is drivenfrom anelectric motor 29,' through the medium uof. a drive-be1torchain'21l; so as to causew the upper reaches of the belts letto travel to the left in Fig., 1.

A floating conveyor. frame 22,is swingingly suse. pended. abovethe, fixed conveyor frame ltljupon.

through the medium of a drive belt or chain 23. The second electric motor is mounted on a baseboard 2S extending between and supported by the sides of the floating conveyor frame 22. The receiving extremity of the oatng conveyor frame 22 is inclined upwardly as shown at 3l).

One pair of the links 23 is xed to one of the shafts 24 so that the movement of the links is transmitted to the shaft. This shaft is provided with an upwardly extending lever di, which is constantly urged to the left in Fig. l by means of a tension spring 32. The spring 32 extends from the lever 3| to a threaded eye bolt 33 extending through the upper portion of one of the legs I2. A nut 34 is threaded on the bolt 33 and arranged to be rotated by means of a crank 35.

It can be readily seen that if the nut 3d is tightened, the spring 32 will be 'tensioned so as to increase the downward pressure of the oating frame 22. The amount of downward movement of the floating frame can be limited by means of a stop pin 36, which is insertable through any desired hole in a perforated sector member 3'! mounted on the frame I in the path of movement of the lever 3 l.

The bags to be flattened, indicated at 38, are fed onto the inclined receiving extremity I5 of the fixed conveyor frame lil in any suitable manner, such as from a delivery conveyor 39. The bags are carried forwardly by being gripped by the travelling belts i3 and it and are forced between the two conveyors. The rollers ll exert a kneading action on the bags under the influence of the weight of the floating conveyor 22 so that they are brought to a uniform flattened condition as they pass between the two conveyors without packing the contents. The flattening action can be increased by tightening the nut 3d.

If bags of a uniform size are being continuously passed through the flattening machine, it is unnecessary to allow the floating conveyor to swing completely downward after each bag passes since the downward motion may be stopped at any desired point by means of the stop pin 3B. The belts I8 may be formed from any suitable material. It is preferred, however, to form them from coiled wire springs, as illustrated, so that they will constantly maintain themselves tight and yet will assert a yielding action upon the passing bag. They could, if desired, be formed from resilient tread stock rubber or neoprene so that they may be stretched over the rollers.

While a specific form of the improvement has been described and illustrated herein, it is to be understood that the same may be varied, within the scope of the appended claim, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed and desired secured by Letters Patent is:

A bag flattening device comprising; two spaced-apart rigid side frames; a horizontal, xed conveyor frame supported between said side frames, said side frames extending above said fixed conveyor frame; said fixed conveyor frame having a downwardly inclined receiving extremity; conveyor elements supported throughout the length of said fixed conveyor frame; a plurality of cross shafts supported by said side frames transversally of said fixed conveyor frame and above the latter; a pair of links swingingly depending from such cross shaft; a oating conveyor frame suspended from said links over` said xed frame so that the former may swing longitudinally of the latter; said oating conveyor frame having an upwardly inclined receiving extremity; conveyor elements carried throughout the length of said floating conveyor frame; a rst motor carried by and movable with said floating frame and operatively connected to the conveyor elements thereof; a second motor carried by said xed frame and operatively connected to the conveyor elements of the latter; a lever secured to and extending upwardly from one of said shafts, the links depending from the latter shaft being secured thereto so that the swinging action of said links will be communicated through said shaft to said lever; and a tension spring secured to and extending from said lever to one of said side frames to resist swinging movement of said lever in one direction.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,958,341 Hurxthal May 8, 1934 2,407,062 Darrah Sept. 3, 1946 2,433,549 Enkur et al Dec. 30, 1947 2,490,318 Shields Dec. 6, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 98,235 Sweden Mar. 5, 1940 440,437 Great Britain Dec. 30, 1935 449,391 Germany Sept. 13, 1927 

